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It’s an easy mistake to make.’

Mike grinned. ‘You’ll have to excuse my wife, Mrs Gallagher,’ he said. ‘Bigger feet than Sasquatch when it comes to putting them in her mouth. Anyway, it goes without saying that we’re both extremely grateful that you’ve agreed to look after Sam for us so we can go to this family wedding. Far better that he’s billeted with someone he knows and trusts than being packed off to a stranger’s for the night. That’s if you’re sure you don’t mind, of course. It’s a lot to ask, I know.’

      ‘Heavens, no,’ she said as she filled the enormous teapot. ‘What those kiddies need more than anything is a bit of normality. I’d have kicked off to high heaven if they’d not let me – at least now and again. It’s all they’ve known, bless their hearts, and it’s the least I can do. I said as much to those policemen who came yesterday.’

      ‘So you’ve had another visit?’ I asked. They were obviously working quicker than I’d dared to hope. Which was all to the good. The sooner they made progress, the sooner they’d talk to Sam again, and, fingers crossed, the sooner the powers that be would be happy to start his assessment.

      Mrs Gallagher nodded. ‘So who’s for tea?’ she asked. But the question was clearly rhetorical. After spending some seconds vigorously mashing the leaves in the pot, she proceeded to pour out three cups. Coffee clearly still wasn’t on the agenda.

      But she did have her own one. ‘The cheek of the woman! I told them that too. I call a spade a spade, Mr Watson,’ she told Mike. ‘So I made sure to put them straight about that hussy calling me a liar. It’s her who’s the fecking liar – there were always men round there. I’m no racist, not in a million years’ – she gave me a sideways glance now – ‘but the woman had no preference – she had black men, and white men, and every colour in between. No bloody men indeed. Cheek of her!’

I coughed to hide my splutter. ‘Indeed,’ I said. ‘And what did they say? D’you think they took it seriously?’

      She looked astonished. ‘Of course they did! Because round here it’s common knowledge. Ask anyone. Drug dealers and the like beating on her front door at all hours. And I’m not stupid,’ she added, narrowing her eyes as she proffered the cakes. ‘There’s her all cosy in some mental home, having them all on that she’s ill. And at the expense of us law-abiding tax payers!’

      I caught Mike’s expression. I knew he was as surprised at Mrs Gallagher’s candour as I had been when I’d first met her. And by her anger, which was a simmering presence in the room. Which was understandable, and my eyes strayed back to the pictures. I felt sorry for her. It was odds-on that she’d struggled all her life with her own son, and had no doubt needed to fight for every little bit of help she could get. No wonder there was so much bitterness in her voice. So thank goodness he was now being taken care of. If he was a child in a man’s body – and, from what I’d learned, I imagined he must be – there was no way a lady of Mrs Gallagher’s age and stature would be able to look after him on a full-time basis. I knew from experience just how physical a job it could be – had probably been a struggle from the time he’d hit puberty – with, presumably, the usual pubescent dramas. Of course she’d be angry that someone like Sam’s mum appeared to get away with whatever she wanted, and though I disagreed with her assessment of her neighbour’s ‘mental home’ as being ‘cosy’, I certainly understood where she was coming from.

I’d also had a rethink on the empathy front. She might not empathise with Mrs Gough, but with the troubles she’d had, it was evidence of a very kind heart that she cared so much for the little victims of it all. And as she’d been a constant in their short lives, and wanted to continue to be so, I didn’t doubt she’d be a positive in Sam’s life as well. And if anyone needed positives in his life, little Sam did. Perhaps even more than his brother and sister. Who at least had each other, after all.

      We chatted on, about nothing much, Mike admiring her back garden, and, by extension, he got the same tour upstairs as me and Colin had, where, in the drizzle, next door’s ‘garden’ couldn’t have provided more of a contrast, the rotting dog enclosure filling more than a third of the space. I wondered, given the situation with Sam’s mother, how soon it would become a home again, instead of an eyesore. It couldn’t have been nice to live next door to.

      Mrs Gallagher pressed us to take a few cakes home. ‘Whoever else will eat them?’ And though we promised to, because her lemon buns were apparently Sam’s favourites, we knew we wouldn’t pass them on to Sam himself. So Mike tucked in almost the minute we drove away.

      ‘So, Cinderella,’ he said, through a mouthful of cake crumbs, ‘looks like you will be going to the ball after all – and without the worry of having to be home by midnight either. And you never know, if it all goes well then the mini-break world is our oyster!’

‘Stop being silly,’ I said, tutting, and brushing crumbs from the centre console. ‘We can’t take advantage of the poor woman. And we don’t know how it’s going to go, so we shouldn’t get our hopes up. This is Sam, and he might just hate the idea of going back there, however fond he is of her. And Mrs Gallagher, for all her kindness, might find it all too much. Let’s just think one day at a time, at least for now.’

      ‘Oh, my dear wife,’ Mike said, ‘for all the many sayings your lovely mother taught you, she really didn’t teach you the best ones, did she? I mean, what about never looking a gift horse in the mouth?’

      I couldn’t help but smile. ‘Okay, fair enough. But what about not counting your chickens before they’re hatched?’

      ‘Okay, touché!’ he said. ‘But, Case, you have to admit it – I think we’ve found ourselves a real gem in that woman, don’t you?’

      I could only agree, even as I didn’t want to count chickens. As blunt as she was, Maureen Gallagher was a diamond in the rough, and I was thankful she was now in our lives. A good day, I thought. A productive one, too. Because when we returned it was also to hear all about Sam’s ‘brilliant’ adventure, which had included dog walking, exploring, the bestest burger ever, an egg hunt – he had the loot to show for it too – and being taken to a place that was so special and secret, only the best superheroes knew where it was. Or, in Colin’s terms, ‘some old country park ruin’.

And that was another plus – that there was such a good connection, right there. Sam might have been the expert in demolishing Lego but the little building blocks were being put in place that would give him some foundations. Stronger ones, hopefully, than those he’d had before.

      There was much building to do yet, and perhaps the early blueprints hadn’t been perfect, but, brick by brick, we were at least heading upwards. And though I’m not that superstitious, when I went to bed that night, I touched the bedside table before I drifted off to sleep.

      So far so good. And – touch wood – that would continue.

Chapter 19

      We’d agreed to hold off till the Thursday before the wedding to tell Sam that he was to have a night away from us. I had little choice anyway, because I’d had a last-minute wardrobe panic and, after a slightly frantic bout of intense internet shopping, I had ordered three dresses that were due to arrive that day. So it was that, when the delivery man arrived on the doorstep, I deemed it the right time to put Sam in the picture.

      ‘What’s in there?’ he wanted to know, once I’d signed for my delivery.

      ‘Ah,’ I said. ‘Well, they’re dresses. Because I’m going to a wedding. I’ve got to try them on so I can choose one.’

      ‘A wedding? What wedding?’ he asked as he followed me upstairs to my bedroom.

      ‘My niece’s wedding,’ I explained. ‘Which is something we need to talk about. It’s this coming Saturday, and because it’s a long way away, we’ve arranged for you to go on

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